Hi Betsy.
Yours is a difficult question to answer because every bone marrow transplant is different! Some people have a really difficult time of it, both physically as they react to the chemo, and mentally as they deal with being in hospital and isolated for such a length of time. I feel very lucky that I, personally, had a really
really easy transplant, but I certainly wouldn't say that's the norm.
There are two great online books that gather together a bunch of quotes and experiences of various survivors and their carers, which I found helpful before my transplant for preparing myself with what to expect. I think they do a good job of representing the wide range of what can happen!
They're both
linked from here - I found the Survivor's Guide and the Caregiver's Guide to be the best, but the others are available to read or order in print form, too. I've got no affiliation with them, I just found the breadth of honest information to be very useful, especially since a lot of BMT information online is entirely cancer-focused.
(sorry if this appears twice - I tried to post it earlier today but the forums server went down for a few hours!)